By dribs and drabs

Just FYI, the event is less than one month from today.

Yikes.

Anyhow, the third platter

- "Hypocras" -- a hot, spicy, non-alcoholic drink of some kind.

- "wafers" (pizzelle wafers) - we are making these on site (thanks, Camille!) - Flavor options include anise,     rosewater, lavender, 'Fiori di Sicilia (vanilla and citrus combo) - do you have a preference?

- Spiced Walnuts
   I'm very interested in the Spiced Honey Nut Crunch listed at this source by the Getty Museum (more info here and here) but I need to think harder about this before I commit. I do have a 'tried and true' spiced walnut recipe that I've used for many years.

- Grapes - specifically red or purple grapes with seeds

- Pomegranates (if I can find any nice ones)

- Pears in Syrup

- Something simple with dates (like probably just dates on the plate)

I am very fortunate enough that I have volunteers who have said they will test cook a few hot apple tarts (C & A), oyle soppys (R), and the egg stew (M), so I hope to have updates on those in the next few days so we can finalize those courses.

I have started making ingredient lists and doing the budget. Really, it's pricing the meats that is the biggest 'deal' to be resolved. The total budget for the feast is $960.  In theory, the meats should only take up a third of that budget, but we'll see where we come in. Meats are important, I don't want to scrimp, but on the other hand I'd rather have a small taste of high quality meats vs. larger portions of cheap cuts (particularly with the prohibitions against actually cooking meat in the kitchen).  I knew going in that using smoked/cured meats would be more expensive than buying, say, chickens, pre-cooking them, then freezing the meat and bringing it to site. I hope I don't regret going in that direction. If the cost is completely unmanageable it is still not too late to change the plan.

Some other stuff I found while poking around:

'How to Plan Feasts People Will Actually Eat'

Rayne's SCA Feast Survey (from 2000 - I wonder how things have changed in the past 13 years?)